Journey of Jack Peters
by Metatron's Prophet
Summary: A prequel adventure in Camelot, with a stranger from our world.


Chapter 1

Jack walked to the shoreline of the beach and scattered his mother's ashes. Tears poured from his eyes. He hated that because his mother had taught him to be strong, to fight back his tears and move forward. What would she think of him as he was now? Surely, she would understand. Her death had been the single, worst moment of his life. All his strength melted away because of his sorrow.

 _Crying solves nothing,_ she would have said, _you need to start working to improve your situation. Hope can never truly disappear, for it is a part of our very being._

Remembering her famous saying, Jack forced himself to stop crying. As he walked back to his car, he saw his mother's lawyer waiting for him. She had dark black hair tied into a tight rope behind her head, red nailpolish, and wore a business suit that lack any distinguishing features. In her left hand, he held an envelope. Something about her had always felt rather weird for Jack. It was like she was a machine. Not once had Jack ever seen her display any emotion. Whenever his mother told her to do something, she did it without question. Since Jack had never been told her name, he simply referred to her as "The Lawyer." Unlike the Lawyer, Jack was not wearing a suit. His mom always told him to only wear them when he had to.

That day, Jack was wearing ripped jeans, running shoes, and a black shirt. He had gray-green eyes, dirty blonde hair, was seventeen years old and was five-foot-ten.

"What do you want?" Jack asked the Lawyer.

"To fulfill your mother's last command." The Lawyer replied. "I am here to give you this."

She held out the envelope to him. Right away, Jack noticed his mother's signature on it.

"What is in this?" Jack asked.

However, the Lawyer had disappeared. Jack looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. It was like she had just vanished into thin air. Jack was confused for a second, then decided to find her later. Right now, he wanted to know what his mother had left him.

Inside the envelope was a letter that read:

" _Dear my beloved son, Jack, if you are reading this than I am dead. I am certain you feel a terrible sorrow in your heart, but you can not give in to it. You are strong; stronger than you can imagine. There will be people who will need your strength. When you have finished this letter, your journey will begin, for you to be all you can be. Love, your Mother."_

The moment Jack finished reading the letter, it suddenly began to glow with a golden light. Warmth suddenly filled his body. Then, the letter burst into golden flames, which traveled up his arms and into his eyes. At that moment, Jack had what could only be described as visions. He saw castles, forests, strange flags, armored knights and, lastly, a black throne surrounded by thorns.

Next thing Jack knew, he was standing in the middle of a forest. There were birds chirping, tall trees with green leaves, and the sun was shining. Jack had a slight headache, but was otherwise fine.

"Well, that was weird." Jack said to himself.

The only reason he was not panicking was because his mother had trained him to remain calm in stressful situations. Rule one: don't panic. His mother told him that when she made him walk around their apartment blindfolded. Rule two: calmly analyze your surroundings and consider all your options. She said that to him when she tied him to a wooden chair and told him to find a way to eat a chocolate bar. To eat it, Jack broke a chair with his legs, which were not restrained. Then he simply slipped out of the rope. Why she put him through such trial, John did not know, but he was glad she did. Those trials toughened him up.

Suddenly, Jack heard a scream. A normal person's instincts would be to run in the opposite direction, but Jack's instincts told him to run towards it. So that is exactly what he did. After about five minutes of running, Jack found something weird. An old-fashioned stone home that looked like a car drove straight through it. The walls were in pieces, an upside down table and there were broken plates and bowls on the ground. Next to the house was a ruined garden. Jack spotted something shiny on the ground, under some leaves. He brushed them aside and discovered the object was a sword.

 _Things just keep getting crazier,_ he thought.

Then, Jack heard a twig snap. Swiftly, he grabbed the sword with his right hand and scanned his surroundings for any movement. When he heard another twig snap, he swiftly turned around. Jack almost stabbed a boy behind him with the sword.

"Who are you?" The boy asked.

Despite the sword against his chest, the boy seemed relatively calm. Jack admired that. The boy looked about fifteen, had black hair, and green eyes. This boy had a short beard, a muscular body, and wore dirty clothes. In his hand, he held another sword, but it looked like it had been broken in half.

"You first." Jack said.

After a second of hesitation, he answered, "Arthur Pendragon. Now I believe you owe me your name."

"Jack Peters." He answered.

"Why are you here?" Arthur asked.

Jack decided that the truth would sound a bit unbelievable, so he lied somewhat.

"I am lost." Jack replied. "I was wandering about when I found this place. What happened here?"

"A boar-like monster attack my family and myself." Arthur replied. "We abandoned our home and fled into the forest. However, the beast chased after them and dragged away my my sister. My father is wounded. I have just returned from taking him to the village clinic."

"Did he tried to protect you with these swords?" Jack asked.

"No," Arthur said. "There were two knights here to collect our taxes. Both of them were eaten alive by the monster. When they were, I grabbed this sword and tried to fight it, but the monster ate half of it when I tried to stab the beast."

"Very brave of you." Jack complemented him.

"Well, I dream of being a knight someday." Arthur replied.

All of this should have seemed crazy to Jack, but he believed every word. After all, he had just been teleported into the middle of the forest by a magic letter. Stranger still, since Jack arrived in this place, he had felt at ease. Like he had just returned home after being away for a long time. He felt as though he belonged there.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Jack asked Arthur. "Are you planning to rescue your family?"

"Ofcourse." He replied instantly. "I can't go to the Knights of Camelot. They would be more concerned with killing the beast than rescuing my sister."

 _Camelot._ That word was familiar to Jack. He could almost remember its meaning. The sensation was similar to knowing the name of a food he had eaten before, but had forgotten its taste. The more Jack thought about it, the more his head hurt, so he left the subject alone for the moment.

"Would you like some help saving your sister?" Jack asked Arthur, without thinking.

Arthur looked at him, totally bewildered. Clearly, he did not expect someone he had met only a few minutes to risk his life to aid him. Jack was also surprised by what he had said. Something inside him just told Jack he had to help Arthur, and he always trusted his gut. Thanks to that trust, he had made few mistakes in his life.

"Are you serious?" Arthur asked.

"Completely serious." Jack replied. "After all, who wouldn't want to save a pretty girl?"

"I never said she was pretty." Arthur said.

"Is she?" Jack asked with a smirk. "If not, I will leave the rescue completely up to you."

"Oh, she is beautiful." Arthur replied. Just don't fall in love with her, or I will have to kill you."

They then shared a laugh. At the moment, it was clear the two of them would be good friends. Together, the two young men began following the beast's trail through the forest. This trail was comprised of broken trees, large hoof-prints, and some blood. A normal person would have seen this and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction, but as Jack followed the trail, there was a feeling growing in his chest that could only be excitement. He could not explain why he felt this way but he did.

Suddenly, they heard a horrible roar. The two of them stopped in their tracks. Then they heard another roar, only much closer this time. Realizing the monster was heading their way, the two young men hid behind a fallen tree. Jack lifted his head so that he could see the beast as it passed them. He wished he had not made that decision because what he saw brought out the fear in him.

The boar monster was the size of a truck, had black fur covered in red stains, greenish-yellow eyes and yellow teeth with a pair of tusks. When it paused near them and sniffed the air, Jack felt his heart stop and held his breath. Fortunately, the creature only stayed put for a second, then began running again and trampling over everything in its path.

"Still want to help?" Arthur asked.

"Yes." Jack replied, hiding his fear as best he could. We need to follow his trail back to his home, and quickly. We have a far better chance at saving your sister and surviving while the beast is gone."

"Agreed." Arthur said.

They simply walked quickly along the trail of destruction, but when they heard another roar, they burst into a run. For ten minutes straight, they ran as fast as they could, and stopped when they came upon a nest made of broken trees. This nest was five feet high with only one entrance. Obviously the creature's home. Arthur and Jack hurried inside, discovering broken bones, weapons that had once belonged to brave knights, and a pile of disgusting poop.

"Morgan!" Arthur called out. "Morgan, are you here?!"

A moan led them to her. She had been laying under a pile of bones. Jack and Arthur pulled her out from under it. Upon seeing her, Jack was convinced he was gazing at a angel. Morgan had dark-black hair, soft skin, and a perfect body. The sight of her caused Jack to paused. This girl was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. However, he snapped out of it when a roar echoed through the woods. The roar sounded closeby. Arthur lifted his sister and they dashed towards the exit but it was too late. The beast had already arrived.

The creature stared at them, slowly moving into the nest. As it did, Jack and Arthur slowly stepped backwards until their backs were pressed against the wall of the nest. Their situation seemed hopeless. Then, Jack came up with an idea. It was crazy and would probably kill him, but at least Arthur and his sister would escape. His mother believed that Jack was going to help many people, and even though he would not be helping a large population, at least he would save the lives of two innocents.

He moved sideways, putting distance between him and Arthur.

"Hey," Jack shouted. "Hey, you stupid pig! This way! Come on!"

Arthur quickly realized what Jack was doing. He was distracting the beast so that Arthur could escape with Morgan. When the giant boar turned its attention to Jack, Arthur slowly moved to the exit. Unfortunately, when Arthur stepped on a bone and crushed it, the beast began turning around. Without hesitation, Jack charged at the monster. Using all his upper-body strength, he slashed the beast with his sword. However, the monster reacted before Jack could wound it. The beast headbutted him. When he crashed into the wall of the nest, he nearly lost consciousness, but managed to remain awake.

Jack could see the monster moving towards him. While it did, Jack could hear a horrible noise that was like a cross-between a laugh and a scream. With all his strength, Jack stood up and raised his sword. If he were to die, he would die on his feet. Just as the beast was going to kill him, it suddenly let out a shierk of pain. Seeing the opportunity, Jack thrust his sword into the beast's eye. The beast then stumbled, rammed itself into the wall of the nest and died. As Jack moved away from the beast's carcass, he saw two arrows in its butt.

"You alright?" Arthur asked.

"Yes." Jack lied. "Did you-"

"'Shoot those arrows?'" Arthur finished. "Yes, I did. Now, I say we get away from here quickly, because that thing could have siblings or something."

"Agreed." Jack replied absently.

Together, they carried the still-sleeping-Morgan back to the ruined home. By the time they arrived, it was night fall. Arthur said they should get some sleep. They went into the house and set Morgan on bed that was still intact. Jack and Arthur slept on the ground. Well, Arthur slept; Jack remained awake, processing everything that had happened while staring up at the sky.


End file.
